Exam Excellence, Oxford / CD / Текст / Oxford_Exam_Excellence_Recording_20

Unit 9. Sport. Recording 20.

Cycling trainer

Good evening everyone. Now, we’ll be going through to the gym in a minute, but I’ll just say a few words about training and race preparation first. There are many factors to consider. The first thing of all is your machine. Choosing the right bike for you is where it all kicks off from. But no less important than that is making sure you’re wearing the proper clothes. You need them to protect you from the elements and also in the event of falling off your bike. Ok, but it’s not all visible things that count. You can have the best bike in the world, but you won’t win anything unless you build up the right attitude. If you don’t expect to win, don’t believe you’re going to, then you won’t. And an integral part of this is wanting to get better – you need ambition if you’re going to get better and stronger and faster. And you also need a bit of intelligence to go with it. So educate yourself, learn about the technical side of racing – study a bit of physics, check the details of the race course, what gear to use where, and so on. Right, well, the rest of my advice concerns what you do off the bike – which is very important too. Tension can be a real enemy. Make sure you know how to relax in the time when you’re not on your bike. Then you re-charge your batteries. Stressed out riders don’t win – they just get to the doctors quicker! Related to this is diet. You must eat properly, all the right foods and none of the wrong foods. Without the right stuff going in, your body won’t give off its best. Your body is as much of a machine as your bike, so look after it. Don’t smoke, drink, stay up late – always keep healthy. Well, those are the basics. Let’s go through now and then you can see …